UnoWork
Shared creatives' work experiences
Topic: Creative Jobs
Field: Design Networking, Journalism, Blogging
Skills in Action: Creative Direction, Copy Writing, Illustration, Research, Interviewing, Project Management
As emerging graphic designers with limited professional experience, we encountered numerous questions about the creative industry in Colombia. Conversations with peers revealed a wealth of valuable insights that could empower us and fellow designers to excel in the industry and fully develop our creative potential. This realization led to the creation of UnoWork. Born from the need of two young designers to explore and share their colleagues' experiences, UnoWork aims to provide valuable information and inspiring stories to benefit and support the design community.
Interview N.º 7 with Paulina
Digital illustrations to depict Paulina's experience as a graphic designer at Color al cuadrado, a Colombian ad agency focused on digital marketing and ATL.
Sharing our experience as designers
Out of curiosity and eagerness to spread knowledge about the creative field in Colombia, I teamed up in 2017 with fellow graphic designer Fernando Caicedo to create UnoWork, a platform dedicated to sharing work experience stories. We designed a comprehensive questionnaire and began interviewing fellow creative professionals, including graphic designers, programmers, educators, illustrators, and project managers, among others, to gather insights about their professional journeys.
Interview N.º 12 with Fernando
Fernando's story was deeply influenced by music, so we selected some of his favorite songs to represent his experiences. For each song, I created a custom lettering piece that visually captures its essence.
Finding common ground
Our interviews revealed common challenges and experiences faced while navigating the creative job market in Latin America. Sharing these stories not only provided a sense of solidarity but also opened our eyes to the possibilities within the industry. As UnoWork grew, it became a valuable reference for creatives in Colombia, offering up-to-date information on work life, salaries, job satisfaction, creative freedom, and more—topics often overlooked or under-discussed.
Interview N.º 13 with Julian
Julian's experience inspired us to play with photomontage using objects at hand with a touch of humor.
Bringing stories to life
The interview results were published as blog posts on UnoWork’s website and shared on social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. Each interview inspired us to create unique design pieces that reflected the interviewee's experience, allowing us to explore various artistic techniques in our illustrations. Sometimes, the interviewees contributed their own images to accompany their stories. The images shown here are examples of my illustrative work for certain stories.
Interview N.º 22 with Diego
Diego's story at La República, a traditional newspaper, was the perfect excuse to create a modern version of old illuminated capitals.
Learnings
UnoWork taught us the immense value of sharing experiences within the creative community, revealing common challenges and fostering solidarity among professionals navigating the job market. By creating a platform for open dialogue, we learned that collective knowledge and networking can drive personal and professional growth. Additionally, the project underscored the power of using creative skills for advocacy, demonstrating how tailored, visually compelling content can effectively engage and inform an audience while encouraging transparency and collaboration in the industry.
Credits
This project was a self-initiated collaboration with Fernando Caicedo.
